I’m back from England, caught a cold on the flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis, harvested 3 kilos of jalapenos the day after I got back and have a goat wearing a coat out in the barn.

I’ll save the majority of the England talk for next time as I’m still going through my photos and weeding out the sucky ones. So, until then – England was great! Thanks for asking.

The Jalapenos? Well, I eat a lot of pickled jalapenos and at nearly $4 a jar, I decided that this year I would grow a lot of jalapenos so I could pickle my own. Success has been achieved. I’ve already canned/put up 12 pints of those delicious little pickled morsels. Next up, jalapeno jelly. I made it last year and it was highly popular among friends (and myself), so this year I’ll be making more. Admittedly, I’ve not gotten up the nerve to use it to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Weird? Yes, that’s that I thought too until I saw a comment saying that if you liked Thai Peanut Sauce, you’d like using the jelly for a PB&J.

Colds suck. This one that I caught is a doozy, hitting me Tuesday morning and causing Mr. Muse to tell me I looked like I was melting. No good. However, it is making for a great weight loss program since I can barely taste anything. That makes me a little sad as I love food, but this week I’ve just been looking at it and thinking, “Meh… it won’t taste like anything anyway.” This also makes me a bit peeved as Monday I picked up some beautiful ribeye steaks but I don’t want to cook them until I can taste them.

My “Goat in a Coat” is Disqua (pronounced Dee-Skwa; she came with the name). She’d been getting a bit thin this summer but I chocked it up to her nursing. That was part of it, she also had a high parasite load and it was all a perfect storm. So, after two vet visits that included deworming (yes, I admit that I didn’t think about dewormer this year – that’s my fault; it’s on the calendar now) and fluids, she’s on barn rest. She also gets physical therapy from Mr. Muse and I and she’s getting a little stronger every day. Why do this all for a goat? I have no children and she’s got a job to do eating brush in the pasture. I need to take care of my employees.

And now, it’s time for me to wrap this up, make some more tea, take a nap and get over this damn cold!

PS – I don’t get out of doing chores just because I’m sick and those jalapenos won’t get themselves in the jars. 😉

3 Responses to Fancy Coffee Friday: Jalapenos, Colds and a Goat in a Coat

Sorry you’re sick, Ms. Muse. I too caught a cold and I think my nose is melting. We’re officially at a week of stuffed up-edness. It can be done now thanks. Are your jalapenos helping you breath easier? The jelly sounds to die for. I love spicy jellies with my charcuterie. Mmmmm

I’ve never taken a transatlantic flight where I didn’t pick up a cold. Here’s hoping for a quick recovery.

I was hoping to have enough jalapenos to pickle, this year, but things just didn’t really come up very well for me . . . not sure what I did wrong, but I’ll do differently next year. I did get 2-3 quarts earlier in the summer (they were all stored, and then eaten . . . I go through about a half-cup a day when I’m packing my lunch).

I’m on day 11 right now. And, Mr. Muse had a tickle in his throat this morning – fingers crossed that he doesn’t pick it up!

I may have to do a post just about the jalapeno goodies – they are all over the place! The next batch of jalapenos are just going to have to get pickled because I feel I’ll have at least a couple kilos of them again. It was definitely a good year for jalapenos at my house.